Processing Thai wife name change in Thailand

[khaopat 0]

I married my Thai wife in America and we're currently working on our IR-1/CR-1 paperwork at the NVC. She is now in Thailand. She changed her last name in the U.S. when we got married but she hasn't changed any of her Thai ID yet. Since her passport is about to expire early next year we thought she should take care of changing her name for that and her national ID card, etc.

I thought it would be fairly simple but she ended up going to an immigration company outside the Chiang Mai consulate (I wasn't available to discuss it with her that day) and they are saying her marriage license needs to be translated for 300B. That sounds fair. But in addition they say she needs to go to the U.S. consulate and get some paperwork from there and will have to pay the consulate 2000B and probably 2000B to the company too (total over $130). It's driving me crazy because I don't know what's going on. I have a hard time believing this is all necessary. Can anyone tell me what normally needs to be done for a Thai citizen to change their name? Even though she has an original marriage license from California with her I think they also may be trying to get something stamped or notarized unnecessarily. They're taking her on Tuesday.

[Ning 619]

I married my Thai wife in America and we're currently working on our IR-1/CR-1 paperwork at the NVC. She is now in Thailand. She changed her last name in the U.S. when we got married but she hasn't changed any of her Thai ID yet. Since her passport is about to expire early next year we thought she should take care of changing her name for that and her national ID card, etc.

I thought it would be fairly simple but she ended up going to an immigration company outside the Chiang Mai consulate (I wasn't available to discuss it with her that day) and they are saying her marriage license needs to be translated for 300B. That sounds fair. But in addition they say she needs to go to the U.S. consulate and get some paperwork from there and will have to pay the consulate 2000B and probably 2000B to the company too (total over $130). It's driving me crazy because I don't know what's going on. I have a hard time believing this is all necessary. Can anyone tell me what normally needs to be done for a Thai citizen to change their name? Even though she has an original marriage license from California with her I think they also may be trying to get something stamped or notarized unnecessarily. They're taking her on Tuesday.

Do not pay these immigration companies to do what she can do herself. The translations can be done by anyone fluent in both languages. However 300 baht isnt bad.

There is no need to pay 4 K baht to anyone for these mystery docs. The consulate doesnt charge for any forms that I know of.

I took my Thai I D with my marrige docs to the Thai agency to get a new I D in my married name. I then too that Thai ID to get a passport using that name. This is easy to do by herself. Have her take her B Cert as well just to make sure.

If she doesnt have these things by Tuesday its not the end of the world. This should have been done long ago but it wasnt. She can interview & tell them she will be back with the items. They will simply not issue the visa until she submits the passport. Or she can ask for a new interview date. The Thai ID takes a couple of hours. The passport 7 to 10 days probably.

There is no need for a notary. In Thailand a notary is a lawyer & very expensive should they be needed. They are not.

If there is still some problem send me a P M.